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Landlord UDR sues former tenant over obscene online screed after eviction

In libel suit, Colorado-based REIT claims man railed against FiDi building's managing agent

95 Wall Street
95 Wall Street in the Financial District (inset: Tom Toomey)

UDR Inc. is suing a former tenant at its Financial District rental building 95 Wall for libel, claiming the man went on a indecent and expletive-filled online rant against the building’s managing agent.

The Colorado-based real estate investment trust filed a suit against former resident Andrew Watroba seeking $3 million in damages after Watroba, who was evicted from his apartment at 95 Wall Street, allegedly went on two different websites and called the woman a “drug-addicted harlot who sucks and f—- for money and drugs.”

UDR, which owns nearly 50,000 homes nationwide, took Watroba to Housing Court last December, according to the New York Post, after he refused to leave his unit after being caught illegally subletting the apartment.

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The 36-year-old Watroba eventually agreed to leave the building, but not before allegedly making the libelous posts on consumer complaints websites ComplaintsBoard.com and LiarsCheatersRUs.com, according to the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court.

Watroba’s rants also blamed the managing agent for turning the building into “a veritable den of prostitution and drugs and debauchery,” the suit claims.

UDR acquired the 22-story building, formerly known as Dwell95, for $325 million from the Moinian Group in 2011. [NYP] – Rey Mashayekhi

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New York State Supreme CourtUdr